Accounting News Roundup: Romney's 'Accounting Wizards'; PwC's New CFO; IRS Headed for a Rough Patch

Mitt Romney PwC Letter Is Meaningless, Reid Fires Back [HP]
According to the letter from PwC avowing the number, it is based on Romney's adjusted gross income. That means that, for instance, if Romney made investment profit of $20 million, but had losses of, say, $19.9 million, his adjusted gross income would only be $100,000. Paying 20.2 percent of $100,000 would cost Romney just over $20,000. If Reid's comment is interpreted strictly — that Romney paid literally $0 in taxes over 10 years — then the PwC letter undermines that charge. But if Romney paid only a very small amount — say, $20,000 on $20 million — it would be hard to award Reid many pinocchios for calling that nothing.

Reid avoids prior claims, blasts Romney's 'accounting wizards' [CNN]
Reid referred to Romney's returns as completed by "accounting wizards" and charged in his Friday statement that the question remains, "what else in those returns has Romney manipulated?

Romney Forgoes Full Charity Tax Break for 13% 2011 Rate [Bloomberg]

Romney claimed tax deductions for $2.25 million of the $4 million he made in charitable contributions in 2011, his campaign said yesterday before releasing his tax returns. The decision to pay more in taxes than necessary was political. Romney had told reporters that he hadn’t paid an effective rate of less than 13 percent over the past decade, in an effort to deflect Democratic attacks. “It’s almost like he’s conceding, ‘Hey, no one’s going to want to see me go less than that 13 percent rate so I’m going to massage my deductions and actually forsake some of them to placate the American public,’” said Tony Nitti, a partner at WithumSmith & Brown PC in Aspen, Colorado, who prepares returns for high-income taxpayers. “I don’t know if it will placate anybody. The people who have issues with his tax rate are still going to have issues with his tax rate.”

Romney will file an amended 2011 tax return on Nov. 7 … if he loses [DMWT]
He's leaving $265,616 on the table.

Carol Sawdye Returns to PwC as CFO [PwC]
Ms. Sawdye spent the last ten years at the NBA (2) and Skadden (8) after her PwC 1.0 experience lasted 17.

Turnover at top of US IRS as tough 2013 tax season nears [Reuters]
The chief of the Internal Revenue Service will step down soon and, with no successor in sight, the IRS is likely to head into a difficult 2013 tax-filing season led by an interim boss. That is not an ideal situation, said tax lawyers. But they gave generally high marks to the IRS official they expect to be named as the temporary head of the U.S. tax agency come mid-November. That is when IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman's term in office will end. He plans to leave at that time as head of the 104,000-employee agency, according to an IRS spokesperson. The Obama administration will probably then appoint Steven Miller as acting commissioner, the tax lawyers said.

New Obama TV ad hits Romney over ‘47 percent,’ tax returns [The Hill]
Read in a low, throaty voice and you basically get the jist: " 'Mitt Romney paid just 14.1% in taxes last year,' the ad continues. 'He keeps millions in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. He won’t release his tax returns before 2010. Maybe instead of attacking others on taxes, Romney should come clean on his.' "

Woman Pees, Bathes In Subway Car In Bizarre NYC Incident [HP]
It's only bizarre since this would typically happen at Port Authority.